HIV misinformation

From: Jennifer Tow, IBCLC (jennifer.vegsource.com)
Subject: HIV misinformation
Date: June 8, 2003 at 5:04 pm PST

AIDS is certainly a highly politicized topic. My area of expertise is breastfeeding and this area is rampant with corporate manipulation and financial agendas. There are several points to be made here--first that the vast majority of people in sub-Saharan Africa diagnosed with HIV or AIDS have never, ever had a blood test for proper diagnosis. They are diagnosed based upon symptoms alone. The truth is that we have no idea how many people in the region actually have HIV and/or AIDS. And we do not know how many have other diseases for which they will never be treated b/c of misdiagnosis.

Unicef and WHO have been sharply criticized for stating that artificial infant milk (AIM) should not be "donated" to these regions as a way to stem the transmission of HIV from mother to infant. It has been claimed that the AIM companies are altruistic in their efforts and that international organizations are willing to risk lives for the sake of their own agenda (punishing the AIM maufacturers). The truth is that the only reliable research ever done proves that it is mixed feedings (using human milk in combination w/ any other food or drink in the first 6 mos of life) that increases the risk of transmission. Exclusive artificial feeding and exclusive breastfeeding have almost identical rates of transmission. Also, boiling human milk destroys HIV. Since, in sub-Saharan Africa, babies are far more likely to die before their first birthday from any disease related to not being bf than they are from HIV, then the prudent approach would be to teach mothers exclusive bf (which is far more culturally acceptable than AF anyway).

But, the AIM companies have a vested interest in convincing the general public that human milk transmits HIV, so that is what most people believe, to the point that in the US, mothers may be arrested for breastfeeding their babies if they have HIV. What we do not know, however, is if the protective properties of human milk actually prevent babies from getting HIV, a very real probability. Further, the AIM companies have actually patented human lactoferrin (a component in human milk) in an attempt to find a cure for AIDS and cancer!!! So, there can be little doubt that they do know well the realities of the immune-protective factors of human milk, while at the same time trying to force their dangerous products on the developing (and developed) worlds.

My point is that one must be very careful about what we think we know about HIV. Whenever more people become invested in a belief than in the truth, truth becomes very hard to find. Many people who have lost family members or who have sick family members become deeply invested in "curing AIDS", but become blind to the possibilities of where the truth or the lies may be. And, when so much money is at stake, integrity can surely be compromised. Just in the area of infant feeding and maternal-infant transmission, there is so much intentional misinformation spread as if it is fact. Imgaine how much there just might be in the rest of the whole big picture.

Jennifer

http://www.vegsource.com/talk/health/messages/15425.html

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